hoser Posted January 5, 2014 Report Share Posted January 5, 2014 (edited) Thesis: Darkness has been corrupted by Odium. I suspect that his scar may be involved in the corruption, but that is not essential to the theory. This is something that happened sometime after the events of the Prelude. A. Support: Undocumented theory: Odium has corruption magic Support for undocumented theory that Odium has corruption magic: Dalinar's vision includes the following snippet which could indicate corruption: “Just keep your eyes open, once Ja-ana touches them they are different. They act strange. ...” Hemalurgy is a magic that changes other investiture. Ruin and Odium seem somewhat similar. Corruption seems like a tool that fits Odium's intent. There are at least several references to Voidbringers possessing people. Possession seems like a form of corruption. B. Darkness attempts to murder people who are doing good things. C. Darkness is described as having "Dead eyes" by Lift. D. Darkness is described as an "abomination" by Wyndle, who also says that "There is something very wrong with that man! He is not right, not right at all." E. Baxil's mistress, also widely considered to be a Herald, is described as "amazing. Wonderful, intoxicating, overwhelming." The reporters are obviously different and Darkness' indifference could be a perversion of confidence. The deadness of Darkness seems stronger to me than can be explained by corrupted attributes. Prediction is the test of a theory: I therefor predict that any Heralds that are described as dead or abominations will turn out to have been corrupted by Odium post-Prelude. Please note: This theory is meant to be completely compatible with Darkness=Nalan, Argent's Fallen Heralds theory and Isomere's "Heralds and Intent" theory. Basically, I claim that Darkness is corrupted beyond warped heraldic intent and survivor guilt. This corruption could have occurred in conjunction with the prominent scar on his face. Edit: Baxil's mistress point, clarify that influence occurred after Aharietam, prediction. Edited January 6, 2014 by hoser 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natans Posted January 6, 2014 Report Share Posted January 6, 2014 Make sense. Do you are proposing that Odium intended to corrupt the Heralds in a specific way so they would become his minion or something else? I particularly believe that them are "broken" in a deep way but are not acting as Odium agents, not intentionally at least. If they are under Odium control I don't believe that would make much sense them fighting in the last desolation before abandon mankind. For what we know the Heralds are crazy/corrupted but not under anyone control. But take this Upvote for the idea =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iarvos Posted January 6, 2014 Report Share Posted January 6, 2014 Interesting idea. Note that they would not need to be intentionally under the control of Odium, it could easily be a relationship akin to the one ruin had with the obligatory. They would need to be carrying/effected by Odium invested objects though, which there doesn't seem to be strong evidence for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyring Posted January 6, 2014 Report Share Posted January 6, 2014 My memory on the subject is fuzzy, but wasent there supposed to be ten "anti-heralds" ? Wouldent killing those who could become radiants be a sensible occupation for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Count Posted January 6, 2014 Report Share Posted January 6, 2014 (edited) Nice theory and I think it fits quite well. I especially like Wyndle's comment. Not sure I totally agree with this bit though... B. Darkness attempts to murder people who are doing good things. It struck me while reading Ym and Lift that darkness was attempting to kill surgebinders and looking for justification (any justification) for doing so. I always felt that the goodness (or badness) of the targets actions was completely irrelevant to him. It was only the legality that mattered. So while people who were doing good things were killed / targeted, this was not a significant consideration in his target selection. EDIT: Just thought that this is probably what you meant all along. I read it as you meaning that he was targeting good people deliberately. I shouldn't post first thing in the morning. Edited January 6, 2014 by The Count Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted January 6, 2014 Report Share Posted January 6, 2014 EDIT: Just thought that this is probably what you meant all along. I read it as you meaning that he was targeting good people deliberately. I shouldn't post first thing in the morning. The wording is misleading, I was about halfway thru typing a post that said the same thing before I decided he probably meant it different than it sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marianmi Posted January 8, 2014 Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 OK, SO I GUESS DARKNESS IS NOT NALAN. O.M.G. CALM DOWN AND KEEP READING. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moogle Posted January 8, 2014 Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 OK, SO I GUESS DARKNESS IS NOT NALAN. O.M.G. CALM DOWN AND KEEP READING. What makes you say that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marianmi Posted January 8, 2014 Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 What makes you say that? I initially thought Jasnah's spren was Darkness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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